Changing careers at 48.

You possibly could stay local. That's hard to do. Check on craigslist, Pepsi, etc. they usually like 1-2 years experience.

 

THATS THEIR TRAINING PAY,THE WERNER REP FORGOT TO MENTION THAT PART HUH,LOL.He conveniently left out the part on training pay,imagine that.You have to go out with a trainer on training pay first.

 

Summer's coming up - check out the tomato harvest. Nothing but drop and hook from the fields to the canneries for 3-4 months. You'll work 7 days a week under an agricultural exemption but you'll keep moving. I know in the past they have been literally crying for drivers.

 

I did it at 47. I came out of a similar career as you. I don't regret it for one second after two and a half years. The only thing I might regret is not doing it sooner.

 

Nice to see folks being level-headed about this. Choose any training program that will give you the most weeks of training even if it costs a bit more.

Trucking is just like the highways you travel on; twists and turns, sometimes dark and scary, but they lead you to places and things you've never thought about before.

I'm not joking when I say trucking saved me from Hell and led me to Heaven. But the ride sure got bumpy in places.

 

if you are just standing around watching someone else push a truck around orange cones for 12 weeks, might not be the same thing as a guy working for a 3-5 week course with more wheel time.

Alot of these CDL mills are there only for you to get your license. The real training comes when you hit the road with a trainer.

And it will be eye opening when you hit the road solo for the first time.

You want pucker factor. Your first two weeks out you will be scared every move you make. Do I have enough fuel? Can I stop here? Can I get fuel at the next stop? Will my fuel card work? Am I at the right consignee? Am I at the right shipper getting the right trailer? Did I hook up correctly? Are my lights all working? Am I axled out correctly?

Those and a million other things will go through your mind.

And then you get into your first metro rush hour traffic solo....

Cars crush your comfort zone and you feel squeezed in. They come at you from all sides. Cutting you off, tailgating you. You look in your left mirror, you are crowding the line so you move right, you look in the right mirror and you are crowding the line so you move left and you create a bad situation of weaving back and forth....

Cars squeeze you more than.

Yeah....

It sounds overwhelming.....and scary....

Because even after over 9 years of driving truck, you still get these feelings.